Woman rams Phoenix airport gate, drives onto runway with child in car, police say

(CBS/AP) PHOENIX - Police said a woman driving with a small child in her car crashed through a gate at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and drove on the runway.

Police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump said the woman rammed the airport gate around 10 p.m. Thursday and officers had to force the car to stop after a few minutes before detaining the driver.

According to CBS affiliate KPHO, Sgt. Crump identified her as Koko Nicole Anderson, and said she was unaware of her location and probably didn't know she had her son in her car during the incident. He said Anderson had a level of impairment that was potentially caused by drugs.

The driver and the child were not injured, Crump said.

Sky Harbor spokeswoman Deborah Ostreicher said an airport operations worker was testing the gate Thursday night when a small sedan crashed through while it was closing. The worker immediately notified police and the control tower, which ordered a halt to air traffic operations.

As the car made it onto a runway, Phoenix police officers used their vehicles to spin the car around and stop it.

Ostreicher said no aircraft were nearby at the time and no passengers were in immediate danger. Airport operations were stopped for about 15 minutes.

The incident was the latest involving vehicles penetrating Sky Harbor's runways. The airport spent $10 million to upgrade its perimeter security and access gates after a man being chased by police in 2005 crashed a stolen pickup through a gate and drove onto the runways, passing several jets on a taxiway. In 2003, two teens in a stolen car crashed through a perimeter fence and drove onto the airfield. Both of those incidents caused a brief halt in aircraft operations.